Option #1: In an essay about “The Glass Menagerie”, the critic Benjamin Nelson writes of the characters: They struggle and their hopes and the destruction of these hopes possess a sense of great importance because Williams has created genuine people in an intensely genuine situation, but they lack the completeness to truly cope with their dilemma. First, what could Nelson claim these characters lack in order to deal with their lives? Second, do you agree with him? Use examples from the play to support your answer.
Option #2: Discuss the use of gender inequality as a theme in Trifles. How important is this theme in the play? How is it presented? In what way does it shape the characters, and/or advance the plot?